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World of Sport Wrestling
Genre	Sports entertainment Professional wrestling
Developed by	ITV
Directed by	Simon Staffurth
Starring	WOS Wrestling roster
Narrated by	Alex Shane SoCal Val
Theme music composer	Paul Farrer
Opening theme	"ITV World of Sport Wrestling 2018 - Main Theme"
Composer	Paul Farrer
Country of origin	United Kingdom
Original language	English
No. of seasons	1
Production
Executive producers	Simon Marsh Tom McClennan
Production locations	Dock10 studios (2016)[1] Epic Studios (2018)
Editors	Nikki Chang Matthew East-Jones Phillip Lindsey-Cooke
Camera setup	Multicamera setup
Running time	60 minutes[2]
Production companies	ITV Top Rope Sports
Original release
Network	ITV
Release	31 December 2016 (2016-12-31) – November 29, 2018 (2018-11-29)

WOS Wrestling (originally an acronym forWorld of Sport Wrestling) is a Britishprofessional wrestling television series andpromotion. It was marketed as a relaunch of the wrestling segment from theITV sports programmeWorld of Sport, which ran from 1965 to 1985.

WOS Wrestling debuted on 31 December 2016 with a two-hour special on ITV. This was followed by a ten-episode series in 2018, and a six-date live tour between January and February 2019.^[3][4] The promotion went on a five-year hiatus before announcing its return on 28 June 2024, with a TV taping to take place later that year on 14 September.^[5]

ITV transmitted professional wrestling for over 33 years from November 1955 to December 1988. The bulk of this was screened on Saturday afternoons or lunchtimes (although other slots including midweek late evenings, midweek lunchtimes andbank holiday Monday afternoons were also used).^[6] ThroughoutWorld of Sport's lifetime, the Saturday afternoon coverage was generally incorporated into the package show as a slot.Joint Promotions held exclusive rights to ITV television coverage until the end of 1986, when they rotated with tapings ofAll Star Wrestling and occasionalWWF special editions.^{[citation needed]}

The distinct British wrestling style ofAdmiral-Lord Mountevans rules has persisted in the United Kingdom to the present day.^{[citation needed]} Since the early 1990s, an additional strand of wrestling promotions has emerged that were producing more American-styled shows.^{[citation needed]} The two genres have become known commonly as "Old School" and "New School", respectively, after the names used in an invasion angle run by theFWA promotion around 2001.^{[citation needed]} Over the years, numerous attempts were made to relaunch professional wrestling on British television, with various promotions covered on a single local ITV franchise or satellite/digital channels; often touted as the "revival" of British Wrestling.^{[citation needed]} ITV screenedWorld Championship Wrestling (WCW) programming in the early hours and from 1992 to 1995 in their old Saturday afternoon slot, but no homegrown promotion ever received regular syndicated coverage.^{[citation needed]}

In the 21st century, vintage ITV coverage was repeated asWorld of Sport on digital channels such asThe Wrestling Channel andMen and Movies, resulting in the name "World of Sport" becoming a frequentretronym for the traditional, old-school style of British wrestling.^{[citation needed]}

A pilot for a television series calledWorld of Sport Wrestling was filmed at theFairfield Halls,Croydon in November 2013.^{[citation needed]} Branding itself as a direct revival ofWorld of Sport on its old slot,WOS Wrestling was hosted by veteran ring announcer Lee Bamber.^{[citation needed]} After it was rejected by ITV, the pilot was eventually uploaded toYouTube on 12 June 2015 by creator John Chapman.^[7] It would later be reuploaded in 2023.^[8]

On 19 October 2016, ITV commissioned a two-hour, one-off,World of Sport Wrestling special. The show would featuredindependent wrestlers such asGrado andSha Samuels, and commentary from formerWWE announcerJim Ross.^[9]

The special was taped on 1 November 2016 fromdock10 studios inGreater Manchester.^{[citation needed]}, and would premiere on 31 December 2016. The main storyline running through the show focused on Grado's quest to become WOS champion. He would lose toDave Mastiff in a match to become inaugural champion before eventually winning the belt in a rematch at the end of the broadcast.^{[citation needed]}

On 23 March 2017, ITV announced that they had commissioned a ten-episode series ofWOS Wrestling in partnership with Total Nonstop Action (TNA) Wrestling (then known asImpact Wrestling). Then-Impact CCOJeff Jarrett would serve as an executive producer, along with Tom McLennan and Simon Marsh. A TV taping was scheduled to take place atPreston Guild Hall on 25 and 26 May.^[10] On 28 April,Pro Wrestling Insider reported that theWOS tapings had been postponed.^[11]

In April 2018, ITV announced the return ofWOS Wrestling as a ten-part series. The series was taped at Epic Studios in Norwich, on May 10, 11, and 12.^[12]

WOS's first series was broadcast from July 28 until September 29, and was hosted byAlex Shane andSoCal Val.^{[citation needed]} Its main storyline focused on the championship reign of Rampage, and his pursuit by challenger Justin Sysum. Sysum competed in Rampage's Triple Threat title match with Grado.^{[citation needed]} After a controversial countout loss in episode 3, Sysum defeated the champion in a tag match in episode 7.^{[citation needed]} In the final two episodes, Sysum earned himself a title shot and ultimately defeated Rampage to win the title.^{[citation needed]} Other storylines saw the establishment of a women's championship, a Tag Team Championship tournament, and Grado's running battles with disapproving WOS executiveStu Bennett.^{[citation needed]} Recurring characters have included masked monster heel Crater, treacherous heel Martin Kirby and his former partner, singing babyfaceJoe Hendry.^{[citation needed]}

At the conclusion of episode 6 (transmitted 1 September 2018) a six-date live tour was announced for January 2019.^[3] The WOS Women's Championship changed hands four times, while Sysum made four defences of his WOS Championship against former champion Rampage. The WOS Tag Team Championship were not defended, however, asDavey Boy Smith Jr. was not on the tour.^[4]

The TV programme received a nomination for Digital Content for theRoyal Television Society's East Awards 2019.^[13]

On May 8, 2019, upstart American promotionAll Elite Wrestling (AEW) reached a media rights deal with ITV.^[14] When asked about this onTwitter in-regards to ITV,Wrestling Observer'sDave Meltzer responded in a tweet on 28 May 2019 thatWOS Wrestling had been cancelled.^[15]

On 13 December 2019, the WOS Twitter account uploaded a teaser video.^[16]

At 09:00BST on 28 June 2024, a short teaser video was posted announcing the promotion's return with a TV taping event called "WOS: The Return". The event will be held on 14 September. Narrated by Sha Samuels, the video showed the WOS Heavyweight Championship, and the WOS logo with "The Return" written underneath.^[5][17] Advertised as appearing wereAdam Maxted, Iestyn Rees,Joel Redman,Eddie Ryan, Sheikh El Sham, Niwa Niwa, Nathan Angel, Jake McCluskey,Ashton Smith,Session Moth Martina, Nightshade andSoCal Val.^[18]

Fightful reported that, due to trademark issues with ITV, the official name of the promotion would be shortened toWOS Wrestling. It was also announced by WOS that the promotion's programming would be broadcast through online platforms, rather than on ITV's television networks.^[19] Talent announced for the event included Grado, Sha Samuels, L.A. Taylor. On 2 August 2024, it was announced that NORTH Wrestling andProgress Wrestling announcer Tom Campbell would be providing commentary.^[20]

Broadcasting rights to the series were licensed in India toDiscovery Communications-branded channelDSport. Series 1 was transmitted on Tuesday nights at 9pm from 26 February 2019.^[21]

In the United States, Series 1 was screened onStadium on Sunday nights 7pm EST, starting 12 May 2019, the first ever purchase of a UK wrestling programme by a US television channel.^[22]

• List of professional wrestling promotions in Great Britain and Ireland
• List of professional wrestling television series

• Official website
• World of Sport Wrestling atIMDb
• WOSW Streams & Videos

• 2016 British television series debuts
• Professional wrestling television series
• British professional wrestling promotions
• ITV (TV network) original programming
• 2010s British sports television series

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